Creating my LLC

As of June 5th of 2007, Angle Technologies, LLC is hereby incorporated!

I finally got around to getting my LLC in place after some setbacks. I contacted an attorney referred to me by my brother. After discussing with the attorney what the purpose of my business was (mostly software) we both decided to move forward with an LLC over any other types of business models.

After that, everything just seemed too easy! He asked for the following information:
My name and address
Company name and address
Name and address of any other owners of the company (not required if you solely own it)
Purpose of the business
Name and address of secretary for the business (must be someone other than the owner, as they are responsible for keeping minutes for meetings)

Within an hour, the State of Texas came back with my official documentation delivered to the attorney, who then forwarded them on to me.

I had already gotten my domain names and I will continue to brand the name and get a website up and running to tell the public more about what the company offers in services.

If you are in Texas and would like to get incorporated, please let me know via the comment section and I can pass along the attorney's info....read more!

Hi-def Vista wallpapers

Just a reminder for myself...

Hi-def Vista wallpapers: http://www.hamaddarwish.com/content/index.html

...read more!

FlipCalc

A couple of friends of mine are working on this really great site. The idea is a calculator that gives you an idea of the investment and return on trying to flip a house. The great thing about this site is that it uses real data on a house (given the address) and the expenses and investments.

I really do think that FlipCalc is a novel idea, and also proves that with the right idea and some invested time, you can get a small business off the ground. Where FlipCalc will go from here, I dont know, but I can really see some great extensions and partnerships taking off from here.

You can find it here: FlipCalc....read more!

Short blogging siesta

I had to take a little siesta on this blog as I re-evaluated my stance on starting this business at this point in my life. I have recently moved and gotten a new full time job, and I didn't know whether I would be able to continue my endeavours with my new business. As such, I decided to move forward with my start-up so that I can have some of my ideas perculate while I find ways to make them grow.

I'll resume writing as I make progress on filing my paperwork with business....read more!

Heat ray, rail gun and more and more guns!

New heat ray created by the US Army: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16794717/wid/11915829?GT1=8921.

Looks like it was made out of plaid. Also sounds like something Dr Evil was behind. Also, the Navy is working on a rail gun: http://www.thetechlounge.com/news/11038/Navy+Gets+8Megajoule+Rail+Gun+Working+32+and+64+in+the+works/.

In other news, the Air Force is working on a pretty powerful large weapon code named "Death Star."...read more!

Linux in a Microsoft shop

I've always been a Microsoft guy. Mostly because of chance. I started off by playing games on Windows, then learning a bit of HTML and using FrontPage 98. Shortly after that came ASP, then VB6, .NET and here we are now with .NET. Granted, this all happened over a large period of time, and a few technologies where sprinkled throughout.

During most of my time developing, I couldn't see myself making a jump over to *nix. I always thought Linux desktops were cool with their transparent windows and nice screen savers, but I didn't know much about Linux past that. Granted, it was free and if I ever wanted to be truly type casted over to the "hardcore" developers, I thought I at least had to install Linux on at least one of my computers. That never happened. I had no reason to dabble in Linux, I felt nice in cozy drinking Microsoft's Kool-Aid, so I just turned my head to anything Linux... and Mac!

Now, here I am as a small business owner to be, and I'm faced with making cost conscious decisions. How can I run my business at a low cost? Well, I'm fairly new to the market, so I will be learning as I go. I can use my common sense and not go for the most expensive software/hardware/etc... just for the sake of it. I also knew that I had to have at least the bare essentials for my consulting business, two of which are source control and defect tracking.

In comes Linux and VMWare. Shortly after purchasing VMWare Workstation (roughly $200 from time of writing) for testing and development purposes, I noticed that the VMWare site had a section (VMTN) where you could download pre-built Linux machines with applications. We're talking about applications that run bug tracking software, source control, firewalls, software load balancers, coffee makers (latte's not available)... Furthermore, leveraging VMWare's free software to run virtual machines, you can run these solutions pretty much free!

There are some limitations of course, there is no such thing as free lunch, that is of course unless you take it from someone weak, but that's just the bully in me. Some of the VMWare pre-built applications weren't exactly what I was looking for, they were either too hot or too cold. I had to modify something or another to get them to work properly, so in the end I decided to download the image for Ubuntu (flavor of Linux) and install everything myself to my own taste. I preferred this route because I accomplished something I thought I never would, I learned Linux and the outcome benefited me by having software that I could rely on.

I plan to keep on using the VMWare/Linux combination until I find better alternatives that include the cost-benefit/functionality advantages that this duo offers.

But I still don't like Macs....read more!

A new year, a new beginning

I've always been one to not like New Year’s resolutions. I’ve tried to convince myself that I shouldn’t wait until the new year to change my life, rather when I have the thought of changing, that I immediately make an effort to change my life for the better. Whether it is personal, work or any other aspect of my life, there is always room for improvement. Yet despite my efforts of continually changing to better myself, I find myself stuck in the same type of plateaus.

Despite the fact that I do not like waiting until the New Year to enforce change, I feel especially positive about the turn of the year, leading into 2007. Primarily because I’ve been starting my new efforts prior to the year’s end.

Part of the reason I’m writing this is to document what I will change in this upcoming year, whether by 180 degrees or just marginal improvements.

One of the places I will improve on is my sense of getting things done. With the help of 2 really good books that I will write about soon, as well as the support of my loving wife, I will accomplish a self satisfying sense of accomplishment. Now let me get something clear: I get things done now. I want to get things done in such a way that I am not distracted by auxiliary tasks and other responsibilities. It comes for a sense of focus and determination to work on a given task without interruption, be it external or internal (distractions, such as email or other tasks to be done).

Continuous education in my professional life which includes learning a new language, not so much for applying it, but allowing me to keep an open mind about new approaches. Learn a new aspect of .NET, perhaps the new Vista technologies (.NET 3.0) and such.

Health is another aspect of my life that I hope to improve on. I will continue my martial arts training and start to attend a gym (that I currently pay for but don’t go to) and start eating better. In the process of eating better comes bringing healthy food to work instead of eating out.

There are other more personal items that I will disclose later, but I wanted to bring up three things that I think are essential in getting my business off the ground: focus and accomplishment, continuing education and the ability to perform my duties for my customers.

One final note: none of this is possible without my sense of faith. Without my faith I will not be able to complete anything noted above. Faith is what wakes me up in the morning, motivates me to finish things and gives me the inspiration to learn new technologies. This is a personal pillar of my life that I will sparingly share through these entries....read more!